Guide for indicating the fecundity



July 21, 1936'. E. J. cULLlGAN 2,047,942

GUIDE FOR INDICATING TIIIEYFECUNDITY RHYTHM IN WOMEN Filed May 8, 1933mnasuul Ava-l agay '2.

Inventor:

' intenda -July- 21,1936

'PATENT oFFlcE GUIDE Foa rNnloa'rmG 'rm-z FEcUNnrrr nmz'rmu 1N WOMENEmmett J. Culligan, Fort Wayne, Ind. Application j.May s, 1933, serialNo. 669,811 y9 claims. (ci. 411-110) n invention relates to a guide foryindicating the fecundity rhythm of women. and has for its object toprovide a mechanismwhichy may be set at yhe beginning of the menstrualperiod of any I ywo fan and which will visually indicate the times jiwhenconception is possible and probable and the times when conceptionis impossible orfunlikely totake place. e

Recently disclosed scientific investigations have 1,0 brought to lightthe fact that with the/"average Y l ,woman who is normal inthe'menstrual cycle within limits of from twenty-six to thirty-one ffdays, ovulation takes place, not as heretofore supposed. at or aboutthe time of menstruation, but l ata time some thirteen to fifteen daysbefore the beginning of menstruation. These investigations`andscientific vfindings have revealed that with 1 ynormal women, asabove recited, the'vtime o! ovulation may vary two or three days. andthat 0"fspermatozoa may remain viable for a period of about' two daysafter being deposited, There is kthus only a period of five to sixdaysduring the f cycle of such a normal woman in which fecundation cantake place,'and abstention during that rperiod will prove reasonablycertain assurance against undesired conception. Ony the other hand, forthose married people who desire chill f jdren, that period is the'tirnewhen conditions most ffavorable to conception exist, and is the propertime to undertake to bring it about.

y, fjjllven though these recently discovered' facts are known, theirapplicationinany particular place gis rendered more orless'impracticable by reason woffjthe dificulty in remembering flOmitime t0 ftime the considerably extended periods'jnvolved. yItis theobject of my invention to provide ak slide yr rule embodying calibrateddate lines covering not 'less than a full two-month period of each ofthe 'four different duration months of thecalendar,

40* to wit, twenty-eight day months for usual Februarys. twenty-nine daymonthsvfor yleap-year f fFebruarys, thirty-dawmonths for "April, June,'September and November. and thirty-kone day months for January, March,May, July. August.

y 4,5y k'October and December, and in combination with f ."these datecalibrations to .provide a slide member bn lthe rule withk adjustmentsfor menstruation y cycles of from twenty-six to thirty-one days, and

from regularity to four-day irregularity which` 501l may beconvenientlyy set, so that when the front f ,of the slide portion is setto the calibration line f immediately following the date of beginning off {lmenstruation there will be positioned along the aforesaid datecalibrations distinctive Aportions of '551the slide member indicatingthe exactfdays whenconception is most probable, when conception ispossible and when conception is either impossible or extremely unlikelyof occurrence.

The full objects and advantagesof my invention will appear in connectionwith the detailed 5 description thereof and are particularly pointed outin theclaims.

In the drawing illustrating applications of my invention,-

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a cylindrical rule mem- 10 ber embodying foursets of date calibrations and a cylindrical slide thereon withadjustable members available for both differences in cycleand forirregularities common to the cycle. Fig. 2 is a plane projection of themain slide member showl5 ing the arrangement of indications for makingadjustments for` different length cycles and for irregularity. Fig. 3 isa plane projectionof the adjustable piece mounted on the slide whichindicates on the date- Ene' calibration the dates of 20 justed forregular or up to four-day irregular cycles. Fig. 4 is a section on line4--4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a section on an enlarged scale on line 5-5 ofFig. 1. Fig. 6 fr. a plan view of a iat slide 25 rule embodying the foursets of date calibrations and the nat slide thereon operating in thesame manner as on the cylindrical rule of Fig. 1 and also is in effect aplaneprojection of the arrangement of date exte'nsions of Fig. 1. 30 Asshown in Fig. 1 a cylindrical memberl In which may be a metal rod ormetal cylindrical. shell has calibrated thereon a series of date lines II located about the cylinder at right angle quadrant points thereon,each of said datev lines upon 35 saidcylindrical surface correspondingwith thetwenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty and thirty-one day monthcalibrations l2, I3, M, and I5 of Fig. 6. The calibration II shown isfor a thirty-day month, corresponding with calibration l5 of Fig. 0 6.Each line ,of calibrations therefore embodies sixty-#two date numbers,being two full thirtyone-day months and in excess of two fullthirtymonths. Slidably mounted upon the member I0' 45 of the cylindricalpiece 20 and the pin 23 being adapted to take into the notches I 9 toadjust the notches on the cylindrical piece 2I. The piece 20 is providedwith an open slot`24and the piece 2| with an open slot 25 of a widthsimilar to that of the slot I1 and adapted to register therewith whenthe pin 22 is seated in one of the notches I8 and the pin 23 is seatedin one oi the notches I 9. Corresponding to each of the several notchesI8 are limit lines marked upon the slide I6, with notations, 3l-daycycle, 3U-day cycle, 29- 'day cycle. 2S-day cycle, 27-day cycle and26day cycle as appears in Fig. 2, and the several notches I9 correspondwith limit lines on the 'piece I6 designatingrespectively regularcycle", one-day irregular, 2-day irregular, 3-day irregular and 4-dayirregular.

In use the piece 20 will be adjusted by means of the pin 22 in a notchI8 so that the rear limit 26 of said piece will register with the limitline 21 immediately in front 'of the particular menstruation cycle ofthe subject using the rule, as for example immediately in front of thelimit line 21 which exposes the caption 2S-day cycle, as in Fig. l. Bymeans of pin 23 in one or the other of notches I9 adjustment will bemade so as to bring the rear line 28 of piece 2| into register with oneof the limit lines 29 in front oi the designation of the regularitycycle, as in front of the designation Regular cycle as in Fig. 1. On thedate when menstruation begins the slide I6 will be moved along the ruleto bring the front edge 30 of the piece 20 thereon into .alinement withthe rear boundary line of the date block upon which menstruation begins.That is, assuming that menstruation begins on the fifteenth of athirty-day month, line thirty will be brought into register with therear line of the iteen block, as in Fig. 1. A ring clamp 32 providedwitha setscrew 33 encircles the split cylinder piece I6 and thereby thepiece I6 will be clamped in position on the rule after theabovementioned setting. In this position the piece 2I, which ispreferably distinctively colored, as red or black, will With its outerlimit lines 28 and 34 clearly indicate on the date line set ofcalibrations the eight days during which for the particular subjectconception is probable or possible. The limits 30 of piece 20 and 35 oi'the slide I 6 will indicate upon said date line calibrations those datesoutside of the period of probable or possible conception whereinfecundation and conception are impossible or unlikely to take place. Thepiece 2| preferably carries notations Fertile, Conception possible",Ovulation with an indicationl of the probable date of ovulation, "Mostfertile dates, Conception probable, indicating the days in whichconception is most likely to occur.

Thus, when the adjustments heretofore referred to have been made for themenstruation characteristics of the subject. and the setting has beenmade and locked in position upon the day of beginning of menstruation,there is at all timesavailable to the subject a simple and visualindication, applicable to the particular menstruation cycle andcharacteristics of the individual subject, oi' those days and dates whenconception is possible and most probable, and of those days and dates inwhich conception is impossible or not likely to occur. And this settingcan be made upon the rule when menstruation begins on any day and dateo1' any of the diierent month periods comprising the calendar in use.

The same adjustments and setting are practically possible on the ilatslide rule of Fig. 6,

`wherein the slide comprises a slotted plate 3l with portions embracingthe edges of the main rule member 31 and with slide pieces 38 and 33thereon corresponding to slide pieces 2li and 2I 5 on the piece I6.

I claim:

1. A device forindicating probable conception dates comprising a memberhaving thereon calibrations and intervening date indications coveringthe dates of two calendar months for each of the four possible sets ofmonth durations in a year, a member associated therewith and adapted tobe set at any one of the date indications of any of said month terms andto extend over all date 15 indications thereon covering a completemenstrual cycle, and means on said member delimiting and indicating thedays and dates within the said menstrual period of possible and mostprobable conception and for indicating all the days and 20 dates ofprobable physiological sterility.

2. A device for indicating probable conception dates comprising a memberhaving thereon calibrations and intervening date indications coveringthe dates of two calendar months for each of 25 the four possible setsof month durations in a year, means associated therewith and adapted tobe set at any one of thedate indications of any of said month terms andto extend over all date vindications thereon covering a complete men- 30strual cyclemeans for indicating the days and dates within the saidmenstrual period of possible and most probable conception, and means forexpanding or contracting said last-namedindicating means to cover longeror shorter periods to 36 accommodate for known irregularities of saidmenstrual cycle.

i 3. A device for indicating probable conception dates comprising amember having thereon calibrations and intervening date indications,means 40 associated therewithA adapted to be set toone of said dateindications and to extend over all said date indications covering asingle menstrual period, means for indicating the days and dates withinthat period of possible `and conception, and means for increasing ordecreasing the extent of said associated means to change the number ofdate indications embraced thereby to correspond with diierent lengths ofmenstrual periods. 50

- 4. A slide rule embodying four sets oi calibrations and-interveningindications of the dates oi two consecutive months Ior each of thepossible month durations of any year, a piece slidable thereon andadapted to have its front end reg- 55 ister with any calibration of thedates of the ilrst of any of said sets of months, said piece being ofsuch a length as to include between its limits the days and dates of acomplete menstrual period from the beginning to the end thereof and toexoo pose all said dates alongside an edge of said piece, means on thepiece delimiting and indicating the `days and dates of possible and mostprobable conception and for indicating all said dates which are ofprobable physiological sterility, said means be- 65 ing related to thebeginning and the ending oi a menstrual period, and means to lock thepiece where set. 5. A slide rule embodying calibrations and interveningindications of the dates of two consecutive months, a piece slidablethereonand adapted to have its front end register with any calibrationof the rst month dates, said piece being oi such length as to includebetween its date limits the days of a complete menstrual period, meanson 75 most probable 45 rfio flffthefpieefindicating thedays and dates ofy ysible'and most probableconception, andy means .to change theeffective length of said piece toaccommodate'it to menstrual periodsot'fdifl'erent l lengths.

;6. A slide rule embodying calibrations` and intervening indications ofthe dates of two con- 'fsecutive months, a piece slidable thereon,y andadapted to have its front end register with any calibration of the firstmonth dates* said piece being of such length as to include between its fdate limits the days of a complete menstrual pef ri'od, means on thepiece indicating the days and "".dates of possible and most probableconception,

15 kandk ka second piecey slidable on said rst-named piece ywith meansthereon to hold it positioned to kchange the effective length of saidfirst-named piece to accommodate to menstrual periods of ,.fdiifere'ntlengths.

20 ktervening indications of the dates of two consec- 'kutive months, apiece slidable thereon and adapted'to have its front end register withany cali- `A sliderule embodying calibrationsrand inl y'bration of thefirst month dates, said pieoebe- 'ingfoi such length as to includebetween its date limits the days of a complete menstrual period. (meanson the piece indicating the days and dates of-possib1e and most probableconception. and a ,second piece on' the first-named piece to;y indicatedays and dats of possible and most probable conqception, and means topermit movement and povrsitioning of said second piece to accommodateviory irregularities in said menstrual period.

8. A slide rule embodying calibrations and intervening indications ofthe dates of two consecutive months, a piece slidable thereon andadax'lt ed to have its front end register with any calibration of theiirst month dates, said piece being of such length as to include betweenits date limits the days of a complete menstrual period.

means on the piece indicating the days and dates of possibleand mostprobable conception, a second piece slidable on said rst-named piecewith means thereon to hold it positioned to change the a semicylindricalslide thereon with a slotadapted to embrace any one of saidA sets ofcalibrations. and of suchv length that when its front edge is setadjacent the rear calibration of the beginning date ofY menstruation itwill extend throughout its length over all the days of a singlemenstruation Y period, means on said slide for indicating the days anddates within that 'period of possible and mostprobable conceptionfapiece on the slide and means for moving vsaid last-namedpiece to ac-vcommodate for irregularities in the menstruall period. I v v

